Trotter Project to promote famed chef's ideals

Dylan Trotter has started a nonprofit promoting healthy living and nutritional education in honor of his late father, chef Charlie Trotter.

“I wanted to have the announcement around Father's Day as a special way to pay tribute to my dad and grandfather, who started the restaurant (Charlie Trotter's) together,” Mr. Trotter said in a release. Charlie Trotter's mother, Dona-Lee, and siblings, Anne, Scott and Tom, are also part of the nonprofit.

Mr. Trotter closed the restaurant in 2012 and left a legacy in the restaurant world. Legions of chefs worked for him before going on to open their own establishments. They are taking part in starting the nonprofit along with Trotter family members.

The new nonprofit is separate from a plan for a library and education center being spearheaded by the chef's widow, Rochelle Smith Trotter. She did not immediately respond to a request about the new nonprofit.

The Trotter Project originated during the days following Mr. Trotter's death, according to chef Homaro Cantu, board chairman of the nonprofit. “Conversations began among alumni and his culinary colleagues who wanted to be a part of something that paid tribute to the principles instilled in them by chef Trotter. We are humbled and excited to have an ever-widening circle of alumni and culinary colleague supporters who have joined the initiative to celebrate the lasting legacy of chef Charlie Trotter,” he said in a statement.

Mr. Cantu is chef and owner of Michelin-starred Moto Restaurant and Berrista Coffee shop (opening in September) in Chicago. He and other chefs who worked with the late Mr. Trotter will lead the “Pillars of Excellence Program,” as the education effort is called.

The nonprofit will offer education programs to schools and grocery stores, promote urban farming and offer solutions to food deserts — neighborhoods that lack access to fresh food — according to the press release. The organization also has plans to start a chef-rating system with an annual awards ceremony. In the release, the nonprofit says it will offer "a 100 percent transparent system that will rate and reward chefs and operators based on data not opinions."

The Trotter Project will also work with the Grant Park Conservancy to host the Windy City Wine Festival opening night fundraiser, called Savor, on Sept. 4.